“They really missed Seamus Coleman and Phil Jagielka and things didn’t go well for them in the game with injuries to the centre-half and the sending off and Gareth Barry coming off at half-time.

“But that wasn’t the reason Everton lost; they lost because Liverpool were better and Everton didn’t do well enough in the first half.

“It was a simple as that, they made the job too difficult.”

“I feel for him because I know what it’s like,” he added. “You can lose games and they didn’t play well tonight. It’s never nice when you get asked questions about your job and he has been put on the spot.”

Martinez is looking for an immediate response this weekend when Everton head to Wembley to take on Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final.

Moyes says Martinez cannot afford to dwell on the derby defeat but acknowledges circumstances have made the manager’s task all the more difficult.

“He has to get his team ready to go again and play against Manchester United,” added Moyes. “He has got a great chance in a semi-final and there will be a big Everton support there.

“The job now is to get the team back up. It’s very difficult because he’s off a real bad result tonight and they’ve got a few injuries to key players.”